The Impact of Order Incongruence Between a Task-Irrelevant Auditory Sequence and a Task-Relevant Visual Sequence.

2005 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 316-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert W. Hughes ◽  
Dylan M. Jones
Keyword(s):  
Auditory Sequence ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
The Impact

The Impact of Auditory White Noise on Cognitive Performance

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Nicole Baum ◽  
Jasleen Chaddha
Keyword(s):  
White Noise ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Temporal Order ◽  
Tuning Curve ◽  
Prior Exposure ◽  
Cognitive Improvement ◽  
Temporal Order Judgement ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Amplitude Discrimination

Although noise has often been characterized as a distractor, contemporary studies have emphasized how some individuals’ cognitive performance could benefit from task-irrelevant noise. Usually these studies focus on sub-attentive individuals and/or those who have been diagnosed with ADHD. An example of task-irrelevant noise is white noise (WN). Research regarding the effectiveness of WN in healthy adults has provided mixed results and therefore, the implications of WN remain unknown. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of WN on the cognitive performance of the neurotypical population. To test this, participants were asked to complete simultaneous amplitude discrimination and temporal order judgement (TOJ) tests several times in the presence of varying levels of WN. Participants were split into two groups––one containing individuals with regular prior WN exposure and the other with no previous experience with WN. The performances of participants with prior exposure to WN, but not those without prior exposure, resembled a U-shaped tuning curve for simultaneous amplitude discrimination. This indicates that familiarity with WN moderates its effectiveness on cognitive improvement. TOJ was not found to be affected by varying levels of WN intensity. The results of this study emphasized that there is a possibility that WN could facilitate higher levels of cognitive performance, though there is likely an adjustment period associated with its introduction to daily life. This warrants that additional research should be conducted in order to cultivate a definitive conclusion about the effects of WN.

Does a Single Session of Training Modify Emotion-Induced Blindness?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandersan Onie ◽  
Chris Donkin ◽  
Steven Most
Keyword(s):  
Attentional Bias ◽  
Strong Evidence ◽  
Attentional Biases ◽  
Target Interval ◽  
Single Session ◽  
Attentional Bias Modification ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Bias Modification ◽  
Negative Stimuli

Emotion-Induced Blindness (EIB) is a robust phenomenon in which people fail to see targets that appear in spatiotemporal proximity to task-irrelevant emotional distractors. Evidence suggests that it involves different mechanisms than tasks widely used to assess attentional biases and their modification. To assess the utility of EIB as an attentional bias modification task, we investigated its malleability in two experiments. In Experiment 1, participants trained to ignore negative distractors, ignore neutral distractors, or simply received equivalent exposure to negative distractors over 720 trials. Analyses revealed strong evidence against effects of training condition. Experiment 2 investigated whether training effects might emerge with EIB was tested at a longer distractor-target interval and added an additional, no-distractor comparison condition. Analyses of Experiment 2 provided some evidence that exposure to negative stimuli may reduce the impact of novel negative stimuli, which may hold implications for the wider attentional literature.

scholarly journals Perturbing Neural Representations of Working Memory with Task-irrelevant Interruption

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 558-569 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Hakim ◽  
Tobias Feldmann-Wüstefeld ◽  
Edward Awh ◽  
Edward K. Vogel
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Alpha Power ◽  
Neural Signals ◽  
Neural Representations ◽  
Contralateral Delay Activity ◽  
The Face ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
The Impact

Working memory maintains information so that it can be used in complex cognitive tasks. A key challenge for this system is to maintain relevant information in the face of task-irrelevant perturbations. Across two experiments, we investigated the impact of task-irrelevant interruptions on neural representations of working memory. We recorded EEG activity in humans while they performed a working memory task. On a subset of trials, we interrupted participants with salient but task-irrelevant objects. To track the impact of these task-irrelevant interruptions on neural representations of working memory, we measured two well-characterized, temporally sensitive EEG markers that reflect active, prioritized working memory representations: the contralateral delay activity and lateralized alpha power (8–12 Hz). After interruption, we found that contralateral delay activity amplitude momentarily sustained but was gone by the end of the trial. Lateralized alpha power was immediately influenced by the interrupters but recovered by the end of the trial. This suggests that dissociable neural processes contribute to the maintenance of working memory information and that brief irrelevant onsets disrupt two distinct online aspects of working memory. In addition, we found that task expectancy modulated the timing and magnitude of how these two neural signals responded to task-irrelevant interruptions, suggesting that the brain's response to task-irrelevant interruption is shaped by task context.

scholarly journals Effects of acoustic warning signal intensity in the control of visuospatial interference

2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paola Cappucci ◽  
Ángel Correa ◽  
Rico Fisher ◽  
Torsten Schubert ◽  
Juan Lupiáñez
Keyword(s):  
Warning Signal ◽  
Attentional Focus ◽  
Warning Signals ◽  
Stimulus Response ◽  
Spatial Stimulus ◽  
Spatial Attributes ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
Open Question ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Spatial Stroop

AbstractPrevious studies have reported increased interference when a task-irrelevant acoustic warning signal preceded the target presentation in cognitive tasks. However, the alerting-congruence interaction was mostly observed for tasks measuring Flanker and Simon interferences but not for Stroop conflict. These findings led to the assumption that warning signals widen the attentional focus and facilitate the processing of irrelevant spatial characteristics. However, it is not clear whether these effects are because of the temporal information provided by the warning signal or because of their alerting effects. Based on these findings, and on the open question about the nature of the warning signal intervention on visuospatial interferences, we decided to test the impact of the warning signal on the processing of irrelevant spatial features, by using a procedure suitable for measuring both Simon and spatial Stroop interferences. We also manipulated the intensity of the warning signal to study the effect of the task-irrelevant characteristics of warning signals in visuospatial interferences. For the Simon conflict, results demonstrated an increased interference provoked by the presence (Experiment 1) and intensity (Experiment 2) of warning signals. In contrast, neither the presence nor the intensity of warning signals affected the spatial Stroop interference. Overall, these findings suggest that the impact of warning signals primarily depends on the processing of irrelevant spatial attributes and on the type of conflict (e.g., spatial stimulus-response interference in Simon vs. stimulus-stimulus interference in spatial Stroop). In general, acoustic warning signals facilitate the automatic response activation, but their modulatory effect depends on the task setting involved.

scholarly journals Can Defense Attorneys Detect Forensic Confirmation Bias? Effects on Evidentiary Judgments and Trial Strategies

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikoleta M Despodova ◽  
Jeff Kukucka ◽  
Alexa Hiley
Keyword(s):  
Confirmation Bias ◽  
Medical Examiner ◽  
Forensic Evidence ◽  
Defense Attorneys ◽  
Case File ◽  
Probative Value ◽  
Procedural Reform ◽  
Forensic Testimony ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
The Impact

Knowledge of task-irrelevant information undermines the probative value of forensic evidence (i.e., forensic confirmation bias). Cross-examination may sensitize jurors to bias—but do attorneys recognize when bias has tainted evidence against their client and adjust their cross-examination strategy accordingly? To address this question, 130 defense attorneys imagined representing a man charged with manslaughter and reviewed a case file that included, among other things, an autopsy report from a medical examiner who was either aware or unaware of their client’s recanted confession before ruling the death a homicide. When the examiner knew of the confession, attorneys rated the autopsy as no less probative or reliable, they were no less confident in their client’s guilt, and only 46% raised the possibility of confirmation bias on cross-examination. Our findings suggest that defense attorneys underappreciate the impact of forensic confirmation bias, such that biased forensic testimony would be better avoided via procedural reform.

Contextual Modulation of Emotional Distraction: Attentional Capture and Motivational Significance

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 621-633 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonia Micucci ◽  
Vera Ferrari ◽  
Andrea De Cesarei ◽  
Maurizio Codispoti
Keyword(s):  
Orientation Discrimination ◽  
Emotional Stimuli ◽  
Emotional Modulation ◽  
Contextual Modulation ◽  
Motivational Systems ◽  
Emotional Interference ◽  
Irrelevant Distractors ◽  
Evaluative Processes ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
The Impact

Emotional stimuli engage corticolimbic circuits and capture attention even when they are task-irrelevant distractors. Whether top–down or contextual factors can modulate the filtering of emotional distractors is a matter of debate. Recent studies have indicated that behavioral interference by emotional distractors habituates rapidly when the same stimuli are repeated across trials. However, little is known as to whether we can attenuate the impact of novel (never repeated) emotional distractors when they occur frequently. In two experiments, we investigated the effects of distractor frequency on the processing of task-irrelevant novel pictures, as reflected in both behavioral interference and neural activity, while participants were engaged in an orientation discrimination task. Experiment 1 showed that, compared with a rare distractor condition (20%), frequent distractors (80%) reduced the interference of emotional stimuli. Moreover, Experiment 2 provided evidence that emotional interference was reduced by distractor frequency even when rare, and unexpected, emotional distractors appeared among frequent neutral distractors. On the other hand, in both experiments, the late positive potential amplitude was enhanced for emotional, compared with neutral, pictures, and this emotional modulation was not reduced when distractors were frequently presented. Altogether, these findings suggest that the high occurrence of task-irrelevant stimuli does not proactively prevent the processing of emotional distractors. Even when attention allocation to novel emotional stimuli is reduced, evaluative processes and the engagement of motivational systems are needed to support the monitoring of the environment for significant events.

scholarly journals The arrow of time: Advancing insights into action control from the arrow version of the Eriksen flanker task

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Richard Ridderinkhof ◽  
Scott A. Wylie ◽  
Wery P. M. van den Wildenberg ◽  
Theodore R. Bashore ◽  
Maurits W. van der Molen
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Neuroscience ◽  
Flanker Task ◽  
Action Control ◽  
Neural Models ◽  
Simple Task ◽  
Sports Science ◽  
History Of ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Since its introduction by B. A. Eriksen and C. W. Eriksen (Perception & Psychophysics, 16, 143–49, 1974), the flanker task has emerged as one of the most important experimental tasks in the history of cognitive psychology. The impact of a seemingly simple task design involving a target stimulus flanked on each side by a few task-irrelevant stimuli is astounding. It has inspired research across the fields of cognitive neuroscience, psychophysiology, neurology, psychiatry, and sports science. In our tribute to Charles W. (“Erik”) Eriksen, we (1) review the seminal papers originating from his lab in the 1970s that launched the paradigmatic task and laid the foundation for studies of action control, (2) describe the inception of the arrow version of the Eriksen flanker task, (3) articulate the conceptual and neural models of action control that emerged from studies of the arrows flanker task, and (4) illustrate the influential role of the arrows flanker task in disclosing developmental trends in action control, fundamental deficits in action control due to neuropsychiatric disorders, and enhanced action control among elite athletes.

scholarly journals The Effect of Odour Valence and Odour Detection Threshold on the Withholding and Cancellation of Reach-to-Press Responses

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Javier Albayay ◽  
Umberto Castiello ◽  
Valentina Parma
Keyword(s):  
Response Inhibition ◽  
Detection Threshold ◽  
Threshold Levels ◽  
Initial Release ◽  
Clean Air ◽  
Main Components ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Healthy Participants

Abstract Introduction Withholding uninitiated actions and cancelling ongoing ones are two main components of response inhibition, a key element of the executive control. Inhibitory performance is sensitive to emotional contexts elicited by subliminal and supraliminal visual material. However, whether stimuli from other sensory modalities, such as odours, would equally modulate response inhibition remains unclear. Here, we aimed to assess the effect of task-irrelevant odours as a function of their valence and threshold on both action withholding and action cancellation of reach-to-press movements. Method Thirty-two healthy participants performed a Go/No-Go task that included the presentation of pleasant (orange) and unpleasant (trimethyloxazole) odour primes at supra- and sub-threshold levels; clean air was included as a control condition. The reach-to-press responses were composed of an initial release phase and a subsequent reaching phase. Results Only the supra-threshold pleasant (vs. control) odour impaired action withholding. Moreover, the pleasant (vs. control) odour—presented at both sub- and supra-threshold levels—elicited more accurate Go responses, whereas the sub- and supra-threshold pleasant and unpleasant (vs. control) odours triggered faster responses in the release phase. Additionally, only the supra-threshold pleasant (vs. unpleasant) odour impaired action cancellation in the reaching phase. Furthermore, reaching responses were slower following the supra-threshold unpleasant (vs. control) odour. Conclusions Our findings extend the sparse literature on the impact of odour stimuli on goal-directed behaviour, highlighting the role of both odour valence and threshold in the modulation of response inhibition. Implications Determining the mechanisms by which odour stimuli modulate response inhibition lays the foundations for research on odour-triggered disinhibition.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document